The Village
by I.Prefer.Boys.That.Sparkle
Summary: The holidays are a great time for many things but the greatest is always love. How can something so simple as decorating lead to unknown feelings being found? Find out. HHr OneShot.


**The Village**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter. All that belongs to J.K. Rowling; that lucky brilliant woman. The only thing I can take credit for is the idea of this story.**

Her heart-warming laughter tickled his ears as he watched her run and duck behind a snowman somebody had constructed earlier on this snowy winter day in December as he skillfully threw a snowball in her direction. He missed, causing her laughter to continue.

"You don't have very good aim, Harry," she teased from her concealed spot as she began to form a snowball of her own with her gloved hands. She heard him laugh and listened close to hear the snow crunching under his feet as he came closer.

"Well you don't have to have good aim when you're a seeker, Hermione," he mocked, smashing his hands together to form another solid snowball.

"That may be, Mr. Potter, but if you don't have good aim you won't be able to have successful sneak attacks when one is in a snowball fight," she retorted, bringing herself to a crouching position.

"A sneak attack, what do you mean?" Once saying these words he immediately regretted the curiosity from which this question surfaced as he was suddenly pegged with a snowball at high speed which flew from behind the snowman. He wiped the snow from his face in shock.

"You just hit me in the face…and you're BEHIND the snowman! How in the world did you do that?" He dropped his snowball onto the ground and started for the backside of the snowman. He found the brown eyed girl behind it holding her side in laughter. "You think you're pretty funny, don't you?" He teased, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"You…you should've seen your face," she gasped out, attempting to calm her laughter.

"Uh huh, I bet it was pretty hilarious. Maybe you can show me how funny it was…"

Before she could escape anywhere he grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it into her hair. She squealed in agony, which he took as a queue to run away…quickly. But as he got up to bolt she reached over and grabbed his ankles, causing him to fall face first into the snow. Rapidly, she flipped him onto his back and sat on his stomach straddling him. She laughed heartily and noticed how pink his cheeks were after he wiped away the snow.

"You're evil, I hope you know that," he said as he narrowed his eyes at her. Suddenly he became aware of the butterflies flying rambunctiously in his stomach and how his heart was skipping in an almost unhealthy sort of way. There was a beautiful woman sitting atop of him, snow tainting her perfect brown curls and her nose pink as a result of the cold. He watched her breath turn pallid as it was released from her mouth into the cold winter air. The way her eyes were shining was almost as if someone had replaced the irises with glitter. The milky skin of her cheeks flushed; the sudden urge to reach up and pull her to him for a heated kiss rushed through him. He instantly reddened and pushed that thought aside.

"Oh I know…but it was remarkably fun," she replied breathlessly. He was amazing. The eyes of emeralds that made her breath hitch in her chest and the smile that warmed her heart like no other. She stared into his eyes through his glasses which she suddenly realized to be covered in water. She reached down and gently removed them from his face to rub the water off with the soft fabric of her scarf before replacing them on his face. He smiled.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"You're welcome."

The next moments were spent just staring at one another until finally Hermione decided to break the moment before it became awkward.

"Come on, let's go get some hot chocolate," she suggested as she slid off him. He felt the instant absence of the heat she brought to him as she stood up. He took her offered hand and helped her pull him up.

As they walked to the castle the snow began to fall in large amounts. Hermione smiled and tilted her head towards the sky, the snowflakes speckling her hair. Harry watched her with transfixed amusement, feeling his palms become moist, even in the intense cold, as he saw the skin of her stomach peek out as her many layers lifted up when she raised her hands into the air. She stopped spinning to look over at Harry whose jaw was lightly ajar and eyes were glazed over with a look that only made her blush.

"Do I really look _that_ silly?" she asked with a playful smile. This stirred Harry from his thoughts.

"What? Oh! Oh no! No; not at all, you don't look silly at all. Matter-of-fact you look pretty beau-RADIANT! The snow is definitely good to you," he said quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment of almost spilling his secret. She was beautiful, impossibly beautiful to put it lightly.

Hermione laughed.

"Well thank you, Harry," she reached over and grabbed his wrist. "Come on, it's freezing, that hot chocolate is sounding better then ever."

They made their way into the warm castle, decorations displayed in every nook and cranny of the place as the Christmas holiday drew closer. The enchanted mistletoe moved skillfully in the air above everyone who walked around the castle, stopping only above two known lovers or two people it knew were attracted to one another. Luckily it was occupied with a pair of two very stubborn fourth years as they made their way through the entrance hall.

In the distance they could hear Peeves butchering the famous Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to the point of making that song unpleasant to the ear. They grimaced and rushed out of the hall to the stairs.

Almost to their destination, they suddenly were granted the displeasure of being pelted with candy canes. They spun around to see Peeves with an armful of the peppermint hooks.

"You don't like my singing, do you? Well Peeves doesn't like your face Potty head! Or your girlfriend's either!" With that he began pelting them with the peppermint candy again. Hermione started laughing and grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him up the next few flights of stairs until they made it to the Fat Lady. She quickly said the password and they ran through the portrait hole until they made it to the couch by the fire where they collapsed in a fit of laughter.

"Oh Harry, thank you for getting me out of the castle for the day, I really needed this," Hermione whispered appreciatively after they had caught their breath. He wrapped her arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against his chest; a simple move that made his heart skip.

"You were overworking yourself; you need to not take on so many things at once. Just because you are Head Girl doesn't mean you need to do anything and everything," he whispered back with a smile. "You know, it makes the Head Boy look pretty bad, and if I were the Head boy…well then I think I just might have to tickle you until you beg for mercy." She gasped playfully.

"You wouldn't!"

He smirked. "Oh but I would; the Head boy doesn't like it when he looks lazy." He trailed his fingers down her sides, making her squirm and giggle.

"Well maybe the Head boy should help me decorate the common room tonight. Maybe then people will see that he is useful for _something_ at least." She smirked playfully. Harry looked mockingly offended.

"Well…if I must," he sighed in a manner that could be taken as this task would put him out. Hermione rolled her eyes and slapped his chest. "Fine, fine…jeez, abusive. Tonight it is then. So what about that cocoa?"

Many hours later the sun began to drown behind the mountains, allowing the moon to rise and spill upon the snow frosted grounds. After many cups of hot chocolate, and many trips to the bathroom, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the common room to be greeted with emptiness. Not a rare sight during the coming of the holidays.

"Looks as thought it will only be us tonight, m'lady," Harry smiled.

She felt her heart flutter at the notion. "Yes, just me and you and a few large boxes of decorations."

"Perfect." A whole night with just him and his best friend, the woman he loved, during the most joyous time of the year, what more could he ask for?

Hermione led him to the storage closet in the most secluded part of the Gryffindor common room, a room that Harry had never even noticed before. There they found the many boxes labeled "Christmas Decorations." He helped her pull them out into the middle of the common room.

"So what's first?" Harry asked. He had never truly decorated any room for the holidays before, so this was foreign to him.

"First…we set up the tree." The excitement in her eyes was obvious, anyone could see it; but Harry preferred that it only be him that was this close to her. He watched her small hands pull open a box, reach in and pull out a tiny 3 inch replica of a Christmas tree. He arched an eyebrow.

"Um...Hermione, isn't that a bit small?" Her laughter made him blush.

"Oh Harry, have you learned nothing in our 6 years of being at this school?" She waved her wand and the tree increased about 35 times its size. He marveled at how beautiful it was, even if it was an undecorated plain tree.

Harry opened up one of the smaller boxes he had brought out and smiled. The star. He gently took it into his hands and lifted it from the box. The star was always the highlight of the tree. It was the cherry on the sundae. The icing on the cake. It was beautiful.

Hermione looked over at Harry and chuckled at his awestricken expression. "Do you want to put it on the tree, Harry?"

No. He couldn't possibly put something so beautiful upon the tree. "No, I think you should do it." He held out the star to her.

Her eyebrow arched in confusion. "Why me?"

His eyes met hers and he watched as her cheeks flushed. "Because, I might mess it up and the star is the most important part of the tree."

She laughed. "Well…if you insist." She wrapped her delicate hands around the golden star carefully and started for the tree. "Harry, could you bring that stool over here, please?"

Harry obeyed her order and set the stool at the front of the tree. He watched her lift herself up each step until she got to the top. She extended her arm out and he felt his heart skip. As she reached for the top of the tree her shirt rose and exposed a small amount of skin from her stomach. The urge to run his fingers over that spot was almost overwhelming. That tiny sliver of her milk colored skin was driving him crazy.

"How does it look?" Her voice brought him back to reality once again.

He looked up at her glowing face and then at the star just above it at the peak of the tree. "Beautiful," he breathed. She smiled and stepped down off the stool onto the ground.

In the next couple of hours they put all the ornaments on the tree and hung the traditional decorations around the common room. They hung four stockings along the fireplace mantle, placed fake snow along the clean surfaces and shelves of the room, enchanted the ceiling to look as though snow was falling upon them, put out bowls full of candy on the tables, and placed festive candles all around the room. All this drained every box except for one.

Hermione grabbed the last box and opened it, instantly smiling when she saw what was inside. Harry watched her curiously.

"What's left?" he asked.

Her eyes scanned the room until they fell upon a spot that seemed to interest her. "The village."

Harry arched an eyebrow. What in the world is a village, and what does it have to do with Christmas?

"Pardon?" he responded. Hermione giggled.

"It's the Christmas village, the one that is set up every year on the mantle." She set the box on the large desk covered in artificial snow by the window.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that," he replied with a faint pink color in his cheeks.

"Come over here and we can set it up together," she called out to him.

He made is way over to her and watched as she took out each little piece from the box. There were little people, little buildings, streetlights, and many miniature trees and cars.

Together they set up the sweet little town and placed the trees and cars in strategic places. The streetlights glowed, washing over the small town. All that was left now were the small people.

"Here…we can use this little girl and this little boy with these two older ones for a family picking out a tree over here," Harry suggested excitedly. Hermione laughed.

"That's perfect. Then this little boy and girl can be getting some hot chocolate at the diner here." She placed the small figurines in front of the building labeled Diner.

"Great. Now we need carolers in the middle here." He grabbed the group of miniatures that held sheet music in their tiny hands.

"Beautiful." She looked down at the remaining figures in her hand and laughed.

"What is it?" he asked curiously after waving his wand and charming the small carols to sing.

"Look at the ones that are left," she opened her hand out to him.

His eyes fell upon three small figures. One had flaming red hair, the other dark hair with glasses, and the other was a young girl with brown curly hair. He laughed.

"What a coincidence," he looked up to her face to see her staring back at him with an amused smile.

"Where should they go, my dear Harry?" She turned back to the village they created. He moved closer and peeked over her shoulder.

"I don't know, where should they go?"

He watched her hand extend out and place the dark haired figure and the curly brown haired figure right beside a small snowman near a church. He smiled.

"What about the other one?" he whispered. Hermione turned to look at him, gasping at how close their faces were but not moving away. He could smell the rich vanilla scent of her hair.

"He can be over here…" she didn't tear her eyes away from his as she placed the small red haired person on the opposite side of the village next to a bakery.

"And why's that?" He breathed. He felt his hand rising from his side and before he knew it, it was cupping her cheek softly. Her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into his soft hand. He felt her take in a sharp breath.

"B-because the girl loves the dark haired boy, and she doesn't want the red headed one around to spoil it," she whispered breathlessly.

Harry stepped forward, bringing himself closer to her, his other hand coming up to cup the other cheek. He was sure she could hear his heartbeat and feel the heat that was radiating off of him. His mind was racing, his limbs shaking in excitement. She loved him. "And the dark haired boy loves the girl."

Her eyes shot open and her lips split in disbelief. Before she could say anything he pressed his lips to hers, gently at first but after getting over the initial shock of the sudden warmth that flooded through them, they both came together to deepen the kiss. He felt her hands snake around his neck and her fingers tangle themselves in his hair. The feeling of her touch was intoxicating and he need more. He let his hands fall down to her waist, quickly pulling her closer to him. She gasped and he took this opportunity to press his tongue against hers, tasting her sweetness.

When their oxygen intake began to diminish they parted from one another. He pressed his forehead to hers as he rubbed the side of her nose with his. Their breathing was raged and their heartbeats frantic. They had each other now. They were in love.

As they stood their, lost in each other's warmth they heard the small carolers singing the ever so familiar words to "All I Want for Christmas is You." Harry smiled and kissed the tip of Hermione's nose.

"I got what I wanted for Christmas already, how about you?" Harry muttered.

Hermione's lips curled into a sweet smile before parting to speak. "You better not be talking about your new broomstick."

Harry laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist before picking her up and spinning her around. Her laughter tickled his face.

"A new broomstick could never compare to you, Hermione," he whispered into her ear as he set her down on her feet. She bit her lip to contain her smile as she moved to capture his loving gaze.

"All I wanted for Christmas really _was_ you," she responded with a faint pink rising in her cheeks.

Harry smiled. "Well, Merry Christmas to you, my love."

"And a Merry Christmas to you too," she replied before pressing her lips to his again.

**A/N: Yay! Christmas love! I love Christmas! I have to give the whole credit of the story idea to Molly! Molly you are a genius and I love you:D Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please Review. I enjoy your opinions. **


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